A glimpse of what Australia will look like in 2066
Global conflict, a rapidly ageing population, the energy transition and AI will likely define Australia's next 40 years, Treasury says.
AUSTRALIA IN 2066
* Population to reach 39.3 million people, growing by about 0.9 per cent a year, according to the Intergenerational Report.
* The report gives a snapshot of how Australia might look decades from now, and is published by the Treasury every three years
* Economy to be 2.25 times larger, growing by an average of 2 per cent a year
* Productivity to rise 1.2 per cent a year
* 1.34 babies per woman on average, median age 45, number of Australians over 85 to triple
* Real incomes to be 55 per cent higher
* Crop yields down 3.6 per cent, natural disaster spending to triple due to climate change
* More spending on health, defence, aged care and the national disability insurance scheme to increase government payments relative to the economy to 27.7 per cent
* Spending on age and service pensions, education and welfare payments as a proportion of the economy to fall
* Demand from AI data centres to have made up almost 10 per cent of the National Electricity Market by 2050, household energy costs to have plummeted 40 per cent by the same time
* Coal production to have fallen 71 per cent by 2050
* Fuel excise revenue more than halved due to electric vehicle adoption, slimmer alcohol and tobacco excise takings due to lower consumption
HOW THE PREDICTIONS HAVE CHANGED
* Forecasts for the size and growth of the population, the size and growth of the economy, fertility rates and government spending have been revised down since the last report in 2023
* Reforms to the national disability insurance scheme and aged care are projected to have put the brakes on government spending increases on those schemes
* Predictions of Australia’s average age and real income per person were revised up, while the forecast for productivity was flat
* The latest iteration of the report was handed down by Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Monday
